The boy in question is Walter Rawley, an orphan living with his aunt and uncle, who don't really care that much about him. He is more of a burden than anything else. So one day, when he meets a mysterious stranger named Master Yehudi, who makes the promise of teaching him to fly, the replacement family gives him away eagerly for a little money in exchange (I assume).
The teaching part is non-traditional and Walter tries to escape this new life more than once, but always ends up right back in the arms of the master, who always shows up exactly where Walter fled to. The two lose the two people closest to family that they have, a Native American housekeeper/cook and a young black boy that the master has been teaching in other things rather than flying. The two are killed by the Ku Klux Klan with Walter and the master looking on.
Eventually, Walter does fly and becomes a sensation. The two tour from town to town and triumph to triumph until one day, shortly before their biggest show yet in New York City, Walter starts having these splitting headaches right after his flying act. The master realizes that this is an effect of the onset of puberty and closes shop.
Although new ideas are popping up right away, the master himself appears to be suffering and becoming sicker by the day. On their day to Hollywood and the new future, the past in form of Walter's uncle shows up (for the second time in the book, this one being the devestating one).
The rest of the book tells of Walter as an adult and his rise within a criminal organisation and encounters with people from the past.
Really good, but - much like Woody Allen in film - Paul Auster and his stories belong in New York City.
6/10
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